Badass Custom NES Zelda Laser Etched Wood Cart, Amazing Quality, Individually Numbered!
So I don't own many custom items or fan-art stuff, but I thought this was too cool to pass up. The company is called Spitfire Labs and they do laser etched wood engraving. They've simulated NES controllers in the past (Contra, Metroid, Zelda, Mario) at $35, and Zelda is the first NES cart they've done at $60. I missed out on all of the controllers but they still have some Zelda carts in stock if anyone was interested. Each item is numbered out of 50 and once they sell out, they are gone for good.
Here's some pics of the Zelda cart I received, look at the amazing quality on the back. All of the boss fights are there, all of the items at the bottom, really is amazing. I'll show a couple of their controllers with links to their page at the bottom of the post too.
What do you guys think? Yay or nay?
Link to their page:
http://www.spitfirelabs.nyc/products
Here's some pics of the Zelda cart I received, look at the amazing quality on the back. All of the boss fights are there, all of the items at the bottom, really is amazing. I'll show a couple of their controllers with links to their page at the bottom of the post too.
What do you guys think? Yay or nay?
Link to their page:
http://www.spitfirelabs.nyc/products
Comments
What kind of wood, and is it sealed/lacquered in any way?
Very cool.
What kind of wood, and is it sealed/lacquered in any way?
From their FAQ:
"Typically we use Cherry Hardwood, with either birch, cherry, or maple inlay's"
Not stained or sealed at all. For care they recommend keeping it out of direct sunlight so it won't fade.
wow, that is really sweet looking. is it the size of an actual cartridge?
Yup, size of an actual NES cart!
Very cool.
What kind of wood, and is it sealed/lacquered in any way?
From their FAQ:
"Typically we use Cherry Hardwood, with either birch, cherry, or maple inlay's"
Not stained or sealed at all. For care they recommend keeping it out of direct sunlight so it won't fade.
Cherry will get darker in the sun, not lighter, I think (based on a number of pieces of furniture I have that are solid cherry -- though I'm not ruling out the lacquer being part of the darkening process when IT is exposed to sunlight).
There are UV-protective sealants you could put on it, probably.
Are any of the poly-cases out there UV-protective/archival?
Either way, the patina that cherry gets is pretty, so I wouldn't worry about it, as long as it doesn't get UNEVEN sun exposure, since then it would streak.
How cool would it be if someone hollowed one of these out, fit a pcb board in there, and made it an actual playable cartridge? I'm guessing the etchings could break off pretty easily and it would probably be susceptible to scratching, but that would be a crazy awesome piece for something like a LE or such.
Just thinking off the wall - and obviously wouldn't want to destroy a piece like this:
How cool would it be if someone hollowed one of these out, fit a pcb board in there, and made it an actual playable cartridge? I'm guessing the etchings could break off pretty easily and it would probably be susceptible to scratching, but that would be a crazy awesome piece for something like a LE or such.
I'm not sure you could get the wall thickness you'd need to make it sturdy enough without risking warping or chipping.
Just thinking off the wall - and obviously wouldn't want to destroy a piece like this:
How cool would it be if someone hollowed one of these out, fit a pcb board in there, and made it an actual playable cartridge? I'm guessing the etchings could break off pretty easily and it would probably be susceptible to scratching, but that would be a crazy awesome piece for something like a LE or such.
I'm not sure you could get the wall thickness you'd need to make it sturdy enough without risking warping or chipping.
True. Chipping could be a big issue, especially where the pins are inserted. I really can't remember if there is there any "wiggle room" where the board is inserted into the pin connector. I know the pin connector grabs onto the board, but does it also push against the wall of the cartridge? I'm wondering if the walls could be thicker at the base while still making it fit in the cartridge slot. The whole thing wouldn't need to be hollow either - just enough to fit the pcb. Either way, just a fleeting thought I had when I saw this. I always thought the concept of a wooden NES was cool - a cartridge like this is just on another level.
I think this thing is amazing just as it is. However, my wife went off on me last night for a game purchase she found out about that she didn't approve of. Not sure this is the right time for me to buy this
EDIT - I was just looking through their images again. That detail is incredible.
EDIT - I was just looking through their images again. That detail is incredible.
Pro-grade laser cutters are pretty awesome in that regard.
We have one at work with a 36x24 work surface that I have been seriously tempted to put to hobby uses.
EDIT - I was just looking through their images again. That detail is incredible.
Pro-grade laser cutters are pretty awesome in that regard.
We have one at work with a 36x24 work surface that I have been seriously tempted to put to hobby uses.
Hopefully it's not one of those that'll get you in trouble for any said hobby uses if you decide to play around with it. haha
I'm always interested to see what people come up with when it comes to cool stuff like that.
EDIT - I was just looking through their images again. That detail is incredible.
Pro-grade laser cutters are pretty awesome in that regard.
We have one at work with a 36x24 work surface that I have been seriously tempted to put to hobby uses.
Hopefully it's not one of those that'll get you in trouble for any said hobby uses if you decide to play around with it. haha
I'm always interested to see what people come up with when it comes to cool stuff like that.
We have pretty wide lattitude to use shop equipment for personal use as a perk/privilege.
(one of the guys just used the laser cutter to make his wedding guest favors)
I don't want to just dabble with it, though, so I'm not going to get around to using it until I'm REALLY sure I have something worth doing.
I wonder what kind of laser cutter/etcher these guys were using.
That is just beautiful though.
Ha, I also thought it might be a playable cart for a split second. Still so groovy. I'd buy one for sure if I had the spare scratch at the moment. Bookmarking and hoping they still have some later. Thanks for sharing, Jone.
Only 6 Zelda carts left out of the "batch". Hopefully they make more batches. I would think Zelda would be the most popular one since so many people have nice Zelda collections.
Zelda is not my style, but it would be neat to have a Contra controller...
Nothing I would ever buy, but yeah its pretty cool.